Wesley United Methodist Church, Orange TX

We have both been baptized.  Can you see the resemblance?

Matthew 3:13-17
3:13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him.

3:14 John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

3:15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented.

3:16 And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.

3:17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

John’s Baptizing of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew is a wonderful scene and can you imagine the heavens opening and the Holy Spirit descending upon Him.  Our baptism is a good and wonderful thing.  When we truly accept Jesus Christ as our savior even in the smallest way we are allowing the Holy Spirit into our lives.  Sometimes we have a wonderful conversion experience that drastically changes our lives and sometimes there is a subtle awareness that will grow within us and change us gradually.   The most important part of our baptism is that we recognize Jesus as our savior and commit to an ever-growing change in our lives.  The change takes a lifetime in most cases.  Baptism is our opportunity to have the Holy Spirit planted in our hearts and our study of God’s Word is the nurturing that we need to allow the Spirit to help us change.  It does take committment.  A committment to Christ’s way.  Without that committment being more than just an act we will never be all that we can be.  Baptism is an opportunity for us to be all we can be and to change the world in a way that is pleasing to God.  This Sunday is Baptism of the Lord Sunday.  Remember your Baptism.  Have you lived up to all that it means?  It is never too late to honor that Baptism and bring glory to God.

May the Lord Jesus Christ make His face to shine upon you and bring you peace, 

Randy

This entry was posted on January 3, 2011 at 7:42 pm and is filed under Pastor's Ponderings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.